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The Struggle for a Democratic Bahrain
On February 1, 2015, the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain made a brief interlude onto the world stage after the launch of a new Arab television news station appeared to have failed before it even...
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Saudi Arabia has Unrealistic Goals in Yemen
On March 26, 2015, a Saudi Arabian-led military coalition — composed of ten Sunni Muslim states, including all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members except Oman — launched “Operation Decisive Storm”...
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Pakistan’s ‘Ambivalence’ in Yemen
Aitzaz Ahsan, a prominent member of Pakistan’s opposition, once famously wrote, “We [Pakistan] are, and very much remain, a South Asian Muslim country: sharing aspirations and history with India – due...
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Iran’s Low Cost Gambit in Yemen
Similar to the ongoing crises in Iraq and Syria, the conflict in Yemen has effectively devolved into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Although the theater in Syria is complicated and...
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Saudi Executions: Rhetoric Versus Reality
Since 2011, when the Arab Spring erupted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the ruling family has faced a host of challenges to its legitimacy. Some of this opposition has manifested in the form of...
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The Saudi-Led Sunni Alliance: A Dangerous Stunt?
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), the kingdom’s Defense Minister, held a rare late-night press conference on December 15, 2015, for Saudi journalists only. He announced the...
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Worsening Crisis in Saudi-Iranian Relations Further Destabilizes the Middle East
The escalating crisis in Saudi Arabian-Iranian relations is going to impact many countries in numerous ways. For years Saudi Arabia and Iran’s geopolitical rivalry has fuelled bloodshed in many corners...
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The Gulf Arab States Versus Hezbollah
In recent weeks, Lebanon has become a brighter flashpoint in the intensifying geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Since the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and subsequently the League...
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Can Saudi Arabia’s Aid Policy Pay Off?
In November 2015, Saudi Arabia pledged over $2 billion of aid to Sudan for its support to Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen and, more recently, the kingdom suspended over $3 billion of military aid to...
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Saudi Arabia’s Delusion
Saudi Arabia is banking on using the low oil price environment to advance major economic reforms. At Davos earlier this year, Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s then-health minister and now oil minister,...
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